National

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), on Friday said that it had recovered more than 693 containers of power equipment abandoned at ports due to tariff. The Managing Director (MD) of TCN, Usman Mohammed, said this in a statement in Lagos. Mr Mohammed said that some of the power equipment had been auctioned by the Nigeria Customs Service, but said …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua After the initial travel glitches that saw some teams stranded at the Lagos Airport for some days, the stage is now set for action at the 21st African Senior Athletics Championships in Asaba, Delta State. The opening ceremony of the CAA Asaba 2018 will be taking place inside the newly-completed Stephen Keshi stadium with a record …

The recently concluded Global Nutrition Summit 2017, held in Milan, Italy convened governments, international agencies, foundations, civil society organisations and businesses to accelerate the global response to malnutrition, an underlying cause of nearly half of all global child deaths. A major highlight of the Summit was the pledge by the Aliko Dangote Foundation to invest $100 million over five years to tackle …

There are 37 career openings for young Nigerians under the United Nations bureaucracy, according to UN deputy secretary-general, Amina Mohammed. Amina disclosed this at a Cultural Night organised by Nigerians working at the United Nations Systems. She said the openings are available via the Junior Professional Officers’ (JPO) Programme, including internship for young graduates. According to her, Nigeria has the …

A new electricity regulation that would boost meter supply for consumers nationwide would become operational next month, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said. Fashola disclosed this on Thursday in Lagos at a Policy Dialogue on the Power Sector organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). The minister said that the regulation, which would …

Farmers in Nigeria will be getting more fertilisers before the end of 2017, as the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI) will be delivering four million bags of 50kg Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK) fertiliser to farmers at an affordable price. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu disclosed this at the weekend on “Hannu Ya …

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, on Monday 4, September 2017 confirmed the release of the sum of N350bn to Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government for the implementation of capital projects contained in the 2017 budget. She confirmed the development exclusively to our correspondent during a telephone interview. The 2017 budget, christened: ‘Budget of Recovery and …

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has banned cash payments for passport processing as part of efforts to eliminate corruption at all passport offices nationwide.‎ NIS spokesperson, Sunday James, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja. He‎ said the Comptroller General of the NIS, Muhammad Babandede, had directed that henceforth all payments …

The first son of late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Mr Emeka Ojukwu (Jr), has vindicated President Muhammadu Buhari on his claimed celebrated discussions with his late father on the unity and indivisibility of Nigeria. Ojukwu told journalists on Wednesday in Awka Anambra State, that Buhari’s position that he (Buhari) and his late father’s discussion was right. The son to late …

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo hinted yesterday that the federal government spent N1.3 trillion on capital projects from the 2016 budget appropriation. Speaking at the2017 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) national conference in Lagos, Osinbajo noted that the figure was the highest sum spent on infrastructure in the history of the country. “The federal government spent about N1.3 trillion on capital projects …

President Muhammadu Buhari has written the National Assembly, notifying the lawmakers of his return from a 103-day medical vacation in London and his subsequent resumption of duty, an official has said. The president signed the letter of notice for dispatch to Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara, hours after his nationwide broadcast to the nation Monday morning. The …

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the Abuja House in London. Pastor Adeboye joins the long list of dignitaries that have visited the President since he left for London on medical vacation more than 100 days ago. The picture released by the State House shows Pastor Adeboye …

Nigeria will be saving about N300 billion it spends annually on importation of rice as local production of the commodity has now reached 15 million metric tonnes, the federal ministry of Agriculture disclosed yesterday. The director of Agriculture at the Kano office of the ministry, Muhammad Adamu, who gave the hint, while inaugurating the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria (RIMAN) …

Restructuring Nigeria is the only viable option for the country to make progress in its developmental quest, according to some elder statesmen and thought leaders who have continued to drum up support for the idea. They expressed the unanimous opinion at the 2nd annual lecture of the Akintola Williams Foundation in Lagos. One of them, the former Secretary General of …

The Nigeria Police Force has put its men on red alert over the plans by Biafra agitators to shut markets and stage protests in south east Nigeria on 30 May. The date has no significance in the history of Biafra as the war started on 6 July 1967 and ended on 15 January 1970. The masterminds of the civil actions are the …

The Government of the United Kingdom on Wednesday deported 35 Nigerians for committing immigration-related offences in the country. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the deportees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMlA) Lagos at about 5.50 a.m. The deportees, comprising 30 males and five females, were brought back aboard a chartered Titanic Airways aircraft with registration …

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has been invited as a special guest of the Canadian Government to grace the country’s 150th Independence Anniversary celebrations in July this year. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the special invitation was conveyed to the Ife monarch in his palace on Sunday by a Canadian Member of Parliament (MP), Ramesh Sangha. …

SOUTH African government yesterday deported 90 Nigerians for allegedly committing immigration-related offences in the country. According to DSP Joseph Alabi, the spokesman of the Lagos Airport Police Command , the deportees ,who were all men, landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at about 3.30pm on Friday, May 19. He said they were brought back to Nigeria from Johannesburg …

The British government has warned against “non-democratic” change of government in Nigeria, amid speculations about military coup as concerns grow over President Muhammadu Buhari’s health. “The British government believes that democracy is actually critical in Nigeria,” the United Kingdom High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, said on Wednesday. “There are elections. If you’re not happy with your leaders then you should …

It was gory tales yesterday at the cargo section of the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos as another batch of 258 Nigerians were yesterday deported from Libya. The deportees who arrived the cargo section of the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at about 10.00pm aboard an Airbus A333-200 and were received at the Hajj Terminal by the National Emergency Management …

Some of the schoolgirls, abducted by Boko Haram militants from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, in April 2014, refused to be part of a group of 82 girls freed at the weekend, one of the negotiators involved in the release said on Monday. After over three years in captivity, 82 of the schoolgirls were released out of the …

In what is the first roll-out of its N500billion social investment programmes, the Nigerian government is set to begin taking applications online for positions in the 500,000 direct teacher jobs scheme, through an internet portal named npower.gov.ng. While the portal would be live on Saturday June 11, applications are expected to start coming in on June 12. Young unemployed Nigerians …

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, says the federal government is being cautious as it plans to invest the over six trillion Naira pension funds. The Minister said this when she appeared before the House of Representatives as part of its ongoing sectoral debate on diversification of the Nigerian economy. “A lot has been said about the pension money. We …

Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, has signed the 2016 budget into law. This assent has now given way for the full implementation of the budget. The ceremony was witnessed by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara. While the President says that the budget must be able to work …

Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Prof, Isaac Adewole, has expressed strong optimism that Nigeria is on path to eradicating the scourge of malaria in the country.The Minister, who spoke at a World Malaria Day programme in Abuja, observed the concerns regarding resistance of the malaria parasites to the recommended anti-malaria medicines as well as of the mosquito vectors to available insecticides …

The Federal Government has re-assured Nigerians that the 2016 budget is expected to go into full operations in the next few days. This assurance was given by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who was a guest speaker at the 12th edition of ‘The Platform’, an annual national discourse put together by Covenant Christian Centre, at the Federal Capital Territory Abuja. He …

Herdsmen from different parts of Nigeria have stated that nobody can stop them from grazing their cattle in any part of the country, especially in the south. They described such restriction as unconstitutional. The nomads, who spoke to Journalist under the auspices of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, dismissed the ultimatums given by different groups for the herdsmen to …

The first in the series of the Federal Government town hall meetings held On Monday in Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial city. The meeting is expected to hold in six geo-political zones and two other cities, Abuja and Kano. It is an interaction between the government and persons from different sectors of the economy. At the Lagos meeting, President Muhammadu Buhari’s …

Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, has written a letter to President Xi Jinping of China, seeking the stoppage of the $2 billion loan sought by the federal government. In the letter dated April 12, Fayose said Nigerians were “totally opposed to increment of the country’s debt burden, which is already being serviced with 25 per cent of the government’s annual budget”. He alleged …

Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajor, says the Federal Government has developed a Strategic Implementation Plan for the 2016 budget. Professor Osinbajo said that the plan articulates six thematic strategies that would constitute the short-term priority of the government over the next 12 months. In his speech at the Nation’s Forum On The Economy held on Thursday in Lagos State, …